Allegations about human rights' abuses by Canadian soldiers in Somalia
surround General John de Chastelain who is expected to oversee substantial
IRA decommissioning over coming weeks.
The general, who heads the independent decommissioning body, was heavily
criticised for leadership failures in a 1995 official inquiry into the
misconduct of the Airborne Regiment in Somalia.
The regiment was disbanded in disgrace following the torture and killing of
a 16-year-old Somali, and incidents of racism, alcoholism, indiscipline, and
human rights' violations. De Chastelain had argued for the regiment's
retention.
The general was not in command when the controversial killing took place
but, as Canada's chief of defence staff from 1989, was integral in
preparations for the Somali mission.
"We conclude that Gen de Chastelain failed as a commander," said the 2,000
page inquiry report. "Gen de Chastelain's primary failure may be
characterised as one of non-existent control and indifferent supervision."
The general is personally liked by both unionists and nationalists in the
North, although some unionists privately question his competence for the
job.
Gen de Chastelain, 68, also caused controversy over his lavish expenses
during a one year stint as ambassador to Washington in 1993, with newspaper
headlines of 'Hey Big Spender'.
In 10 months, his wife Mary Ann Laverty, who has family roots in the
Republic, made 91 visits to a hair salon – one every three to four days –
costing $4,200.
The general declined to comment on these matters to the Sunday Tribune but a
spokesman for him said the allegations had been in the public domain since
1995.
Scott Taylor, editor of the Canadian military affairs' magazine 'Esprit de
Corps' and a former soldier, said: "Gen de Chastelain left Canada for
Northern Ireland with his reputation severely damaged. Until Somalia, he had
impressed a lot of people.
"He looked the part – a dashing guy with a clipped British accent and aura
of confidence – who was hugely into pomp and ceremony. But his shortcomings
were exposed in the inquiry into what was the low-point of Canadian military
history – our Vietnam.
"Gen de Chastelain was very fortunate to land such a lucrative post in
Northern Ireland after being so heavily criticised in Canada.
"We obtained documents through the Access to Information Act on his expenses
while in Washington. He developed a taste for buying wine at $286 a bottle
and expensive designer clothes, including a suit at almost $2,000." One MP
called for him to be fired after the disclosure on expenses.
Shidane Arone, 16, was visiting an abandoned American camp in the Somalian
town of Belet Huen in March 1993 when he was abducted by Canadian soldiers
and taken into their adjacent base.
He was bound and blind-folded, kicked relentlessly and beaten with metal
bars. His captors made him yell 'Canada! Canada!" His cries of pain and
pleas for mercy echoed across the camp but nobody intervened to help. The
soles of his feet were burned with cigars. He lapsed in and out of
consciousness for three hours before he died.
The soldiers involved took 'trophy' photographs of Arone with a pistol
raised to his bloodied, bruised head and a baton jammed between his lips.
Eight soldiers eventually faced criminal charges. Private Kyle Browne was
convicted of torture and manslaughter.
It was later disclosed that it was common practice for the Airborne Regiment
to refer to Somalis by racial epithets. Soldiers hung Nazi and US
Confederate flags in their barracks.
In one Somalia video, Master Corporal Matt McKay, a former member of the
Aryan Nation, complained that he "ain't killed enough niggers yet". In
another video, a black recruit with the words "I love KKK" scrawled on his
back in excrement, is crawling on a dog leash through a gauntlet of blows
and urination.
The inquiry was told of senior officers being drunk in the field. Video
footage showed drunken soldiers urinating on each other and vomiting during
initiation "parties" at home. The report said that planning for the Somalia
mission was characterized by "reckless haste and enthusiasm for high-risk,
high-profile action".
It stated that Gen de Chastelain did not take steps to investigate and
rectify the significant leadership and disciplinary problems within the
Airborne Regiment prior to its deployment.
He allowed them to deploy without adequate military police and confusing
rules governing the use of force. The inquiry concluded that he failed to
ensure that members of the Canadian forces sent to Somalia were adequately
trained and tested in the law of war under the Geneva Convention.
De Chastelain was born in Romania. Both his parents worked for British
intelligence during World War Two. He was educated at Fettes College,
Scotland's Eton, where Tony Blair was later a pupil, before the family
emigrated to Canada.
